State sponsored lottery games have become increasingly popular. In fact, the majority of states in the United States now offer one or more lottery games to their residents.
One type of lottery game that is essentially popular allows the player to select his own ticket numbers. This is done by making available to the player a lottery ticket betting slip typically including multiple arrangements of the sequence of numbers playable in the lottery game. The desired numbers are marked on the betting slip, such as by darkening a rectangular or oval area surrounding the desired number. Typically, an optical reader at the point of sale then optically reads the betting slip and produces printed lottery tickets therefrom, each ticket bearing the sequence of numbers being played. The betting slip and the printed tickets produced therefrom are retained by the player.
Many lottery game players often purchase a large number of tickets with a different selection of numbers on each ticket. Accordingly, such a player is faces with the somewhat difficult task of comparing each set of numbers on the printed lottery ticket with the announced winning sequence of lottery numbers. Since only the numbers played are typically printed on the lottery tickets, considerable care and patience is required by the player to check each and every number on each and every printed ticket. Thus, quick scanning to verify a winning combination of numbers on the printed lottery tickets is not readily possible. More importantly, the fear of potentially failing to identify a winning lottery ticket will induce most lottery players to check and recheck tickets for the winning combination of numbers.
An alternative approach to checking each number on the printed lottery tickets is to check the lottery ticket betting slips marked by the player for purchasing the lottery tickets. The player has already marked on the lottery ticket betting slip the numbers played out of the arrangement of numbers playable. Since the numbers played are marked from the entire sequence of numbers playable, the lottery ticket betting slip may be checked for the winning combination of numbers using a checking template. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,845 to Gallo discloses a lottery number checking template formed of a single blank of transparent plastic folded into three panels. The top panel has the set of lottery numbers printed thereon as used on the lottery ticket betting slip. The winning numbers may be marked on the transparent front panel and the lottery ticket betting slip having the numbers to be checked is passed through a sleeve formed by the three folded panels. The numbers played as indicated on the betting slip may thus be compared to the announced winning number combination.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,379 to Parks discloses a folding wallet for storing and for checking lottery tickets. The folding wallet includes a rectangular window for inserting a lottery ticket betting slip having the winning combination of numbers previously marked thereon. The transparent sheet of the window is then marked with a pen to indicate the winning numbers, such as by circling the winning numbers. The numbers played on the betting slip may thus be compared to the winning number combination.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,073 discloses a lottery card reader for checking a winning combination of numbers having a body including a slot therein which is transpierced by an array of passages corresponding to the array of numbers. Each passage contains an opaque slider which may be shifted between opposite ends of the passage prior to insertion of a lottery ticket to check for a winning combination of lottery numbers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,268 to Sutherland et al. discloses a template for marking multiple lottery ticket betting slips each with the same sequence of numbers. The template has two stiff sheets joined along a fold line. The front sheet is transparent and includes a series of perforated portions in locations corresponding to the sequence of numbers available. Desired ones of the perforated portions may be readily removed to assist a lottery player in completing multiple betting slips each having identical numbers marked thereon. To use the template, a lottery betting slip is inserted into the template with the edge engaged fully into the fold line.
Despite a number of lottery checking templates and devices, there still exists a need for a checking template which is inexpensive, yet which permits ready manipulation of a lottery betting slip and checking of the numbers played as marked thereon. It is also desirable that a template ensure that the lottery ticket betting slip is accurately positioned within the template so that the winning combination of lottery numbers can be accurately and quickly compared to the winning number combination.